The present invention relates to a smoking article having a fuel element, a physically separate aerosol generating means, and an improved mouthend piece which comprises a segment of non-woven thermoplastic fibers or filaments for delivering the aerosol produced to the user, and which, in preferred embodiments, includes a spacer member which separates the segment of thermoplastic material from the aerosol generating means. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a non-woven web of meltblown thermoplastic fibers employed as least as a portion of the mouthend piece of such articles. Smoking articles employing the improved mouthend piece help reduce the temperature of the aerosol perceived by the user without interfering with delivery of the aerosol. Such articles also produce an aerosol resembling tobacco smoke, but which contains no more than a minimal amount of incomplete combustion or pyrolysis products.
Cigarette-like smoking articles have been proposed for many years. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,742 to Rainer et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,84,089 to Ray; U.S. Pat. No. 2,907,686 to Siegel; U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,258,015 and 3,356,094 to Ellis et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,516,417 to Moses; U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,943,941 and 4,044,777 to Boyd et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,604 to Ehretsmann et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,326,544 to Hardwick et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,072 to Bolt et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,285 to Burnett; U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,191 to Steiner; and European Patent Appln. No. 117,355 (Hearn).
As far as the present inventors are aware, none of the foregoing smoking articles has ever realized any commercial success and none have ever been widely marketed. The absence of such smoking articles from the marketplace is believed to be due to a variety of reasons, including insufficient aerosol generation, both initially and over the life of the product, poor taste, off-taste due to thermal degradation of the smoke former and/or flavor agents, the presence of substantial pyrolysis products and sidestream smoke, and unsightly appearance.
Thus, despite decades of interest and effort, there is still no smoking article on the market which provides the benefits and advantages associated with conventional cigarette smoking, without delivering considerable quantities of incomplete combustion and pyrolysis products.
In late 1985, a series of foreign patents was granted or registered disclosing novel smoking articles capable of providing the benefits and advantages associated with conventional cigarette smoking, without delivering appreciable quantities of incomplete combustion or pyrolysis products. The earliest of these patents was Liberian Patent No. 13985/3890, issued Sept. 13, 1985. This patent corresponds to a later published European Patent Application, Publication No. 174,645, published 19 March 1986.